Disposable gloves are widely used as a protective measure and have become mandatory in many industries and nearly all medical settings. They protect the person wearing the disposable gloves from various objects or materials handled or touched by that person. Most disposable gloves are commercially available (“off-the-shelf”) in standard glove sizes, ranging from 5.5 to 9.0, including half (½) sizes. Typically, the disposable gloves are manufactured using different-sized formers that correspond to the various commercially-available standard glove sizes.
Some disposable glove users, particularly surgeons, may find that commercially-available disposable surgical gloves do not fit them well. Ill-fitting gloves may cause users to develop hand fatigue and other problems associated with gloves that do not fit properly. Additionally, some disposable glove users may have physical conditions, such as missing fingers, dwarfism, etc., that preclude them from wearing commercially-available standard-sized disposable gloves.
Therefore, there exists a need for customized disposable gloves that are a replica of a user's hand and, thus, provide a better fit to a user's hand. Such gloves will reduce the occurrence of hand fatigue and other physical problems associated with ill-fitting disposable gloves. This will be beneficial to those users, such as surgeons, who may not be able to find a commercially-available glove “off-the-shelf” that fits the surgeon's hand. This will also be beneficial for surgeons who have physical problems that preclude them from using standard, commercially-available, off-the-shelf gloves. To that end, there exists a need for customized glove formers that provide customized disposable gloves.